Amazon has announced the release data for the second of its latest-generation Kindles in the UK: the Kindle Touch.
The gadget will go on sale on 27 April priced at £106. A version with 3G connectivity as well a Wi-Fi will cost £169.
Both sport the same 6in E Ink Pearl display seen on the Kindle 4 - aka the Kindle Touchless - …

I prefer...

I'm very happy with my Kindle Fire. Works well as a reader and web browser. Now if they would only remove the idiocy that I cannot download free apps because my credit card does not have a US address, I would be even happier. (Although I have now found a way to load some apps which has considerably improved things.)

Meh

The Touch arrived in Oz a couple of weeks ago. I was desperate for one before Christmas, and would have ordered online if they delivered outside of the US. But, having now played with one in store, I'm glad I didn't get it. It feels slow and clumsy, and unlike the older Kindle, it feels cheap. Refresh times really haven't improved in years too.

Also, the web browser is still "experimental". I know it's just an e-reader, but still I think it could have been better polished.

Fuck the Kindle Touch

Re: Fuck the Kindle Touch

+1 Upvoted for the sheer and utter irrelevance of your post. Really got me chuckling. Ive got this picture of you trawling the internet looking for somewwhere to spleen-vent, and then stumbling on this article and thinking " sod it, this'll do". Thanks, you've made my day.

Re: And a nice part of it is... (@Toxteth O'Gravy)

Batteries?

What's the battery life like in the touch?

The 4 has half the battery life on the Keyboard. Amazon says it should last a month on the 4, but that's only based on 30 minutes of reading per day. My other half reads for hours a day and has noticed she's charging it nearly all the time compared to the Keyboard.

as an owner of an imported (and rooted (many times)) kindle fire I am extremely happy with it - I can browse t'interwebs, read emails, and play crappy freebie android apps, and that is _all_ I got it for. however i'm not sure that it will ever be a "killer" tablet for mort without bluetooth, camera, mic, etc.

suspect amazon have worked this out and blighty will not see the fire until the next gen model is ready, and sellable under £200.

The basic (cheap) Kindle is popular as it just replaces a book and does it pretty well. But... anyone wanting anything more will buy a proper tablet and not sure it would be a 'Fire' - Amazon seem slow about releasing it (which is rather un-Amazon-like) to the UK / other countries. The price is likely to be very close to the iPad 2 and when people try them out they are going to buy the iPad - even if it were just to run the Kindle app.

"Fire only makes sense as an Amazon content play. Since Amazon's digital content strategy in Europe is way behind their US offering, there's no point in selling the Kindle Fire. No great mystery."

... and as they essential make nothing on the hardware no point releasing it - so don't hold your breath for the Kindle Fire until Amazon has a lot more 'video' content available to buy / rent (as they do on their US site). They could hook it up to Lovefilm streaming but I suspect they want to sell the downloadable files.

Gives even more of a lead to the iPad. The other option is they will can it and just develop content and an app for the iPad (as the Kindle e-reader app).

Already available.. in Switzerland

And for the past few weeks, one of the main online retailers has Kindle Touches and Fires available, in stock, and at (as near as damn it) the same prices as in the US.

What makes this bizarre is that this is a tiny country, Amazon doesn't even have a Swiss website (it redirects us to the German one) so we don't even have a place to buy Amazon movies and media to fill our Fires with.

So, anyone coming over here for a skiing trip, have a look at www.digitec.ch. I don't work for them, but I do use them, they are reliable and have shops where you can collect goods.

Bugger!

Re: Bugger!

Not sure I agree with your description of the Kindle with buttons being inferior... I deliberately went for that one for my wife's present, as it includes text-to-speech capability, which the other Kindles don't. My wife is dyslexic and finds the ability to switch that on a godsend when she struggles with some books.